Zings from Jesus

One of the sweetest ladies I may have ever met, explains openly in the lobby of our salon, how she gets “Zings” from Jesus. “It’s amazing when he shoots that power down”. “Oooh I love it”, she says, and so do I. “I want it, I could use it right now. I believe my coffee is wearing off”, I tell her. Lightly aged, sweet little red headed Fran. Fran, of course her name is Fran. She has so much Jesus radiating out of her. She says “it’s the Holy Spirit beaming out”. I believe it. I mean it is true all that she says. The Holy Spirit does live within us and it’s explained to us right there in the Bible. The Bible which is really like a life, how to guide, and one that should be referred to way more than any TV show or thing I’ve ever seen on Pinterest. That’s not knocking Pinterest, I soak that stuff up. Really though it’s chock full of life lessons. Going even deeper than just the surfacing 10 Commandments- which are good rules to live by.

There are quite a few other ladies I know with this evangelizing faith, a few of them are in my Bible study. Yes I try to go to those occasionally. Fantastically thick gold crosses hanging from their necks, shining as they speak. It is an outward sign symbolizing their faith. Truly the necklaces are incredible; they could’ve come off one of the best hard-core hip-hop videos. These women are the real deal. When they speak, they have a force of conviction behind their words. I absolutely love them and their necklaces. I wish I was brave enough to wear one that big. It reminds me of a belt buckle that my husband wanted to get when we were in Mexico a few years ago. It was a buckle with a brilliant rooster head worn on a man who walked confidently around the Zocalo (a town’s main square).
Rooster fighting is a big deal down there in Oaxaca, and is not nearly as upsetting to people as another known terror among the community, the Mexican cartel. The man walked around with great pride, his head held high as he shined his slightly oversized and yet ridiculously impressive buckle for all to see. The man wore it well. I just thought my husband should leave that buckle in Oaxaca seeing that we aren’t Mexican and he doesn’t compete in rooster fights. The buckle was off the chain, as they say. As for my dear friends in bible study, it’s ON the chain. They have such strength in their testimony to God and are so helpful to all those who seek him.

Fran says you can talk about God all day and people will tell you they believe. They will maybe even “say a prayer for you”. “Bring up Jesus and everyone gets their feathers in a ruffle” she says. Religion can unfortunately divide so many people. I’m Catholic. I’m proud to be and as a matter of fact (wait for it), I choose to be Catholic as an adult. The traditions that the Catholic church offers such as the rosary, holy sacraments, confession or even the option of daily communion are just some of the many bonuses we get to be apart of. I like being Catholic, as I like all Christians and people of good will. Fran is not Catholic and yet she is one of my favorite people to listen to talk about her faith. She shares her testimony with anyone who will listen.

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit fill us with their light and love, longing for us to reside in them. This light is what shines out in women like Fran (along with her confident voice). Putting God first, above all things. To be guided, loved and feel at peace in a way we could never truly achieve on our own. God is love, right. We’re all searching to be loved and comforted. Meanwhile, the answer to the love and peace that we so often seek (usually while going through life’s darker trials) is always right there for ours to take. God desires us to pray and simply spend time with him, the same way most fathers would like to spend time with their children.

If you’re looking to deepen your faith, a good place to start is by reading through the psalms (which has its own little section in the Bible). Anything straight from the source (the Bible in this case) is always a good place to start. There are plenty of excellent books out there and one of my favorites is called The Power of the Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. I really enjoy this book, I actually go back to it quite a bit to strengthen my prayers for myself and for my marriage. You can also read The Power of a Praying Husband, Parent, Women or whatever version fits you best. We try reading a daily devotional such as the Daily Word. My husband and I keep ours by our coffee pot (keeping it convenient is half the battle). Ours starts with a word of the day, a quoted scripture sentence and then breaks down the scripture with merely a paragraph or two at best. I find this helpful to setting the tone of the day. It’s one of the ways I can invite God into my life every day.

Praying is good to do anytime, silently or out loud. I was taught that God likes to hear from us, big things and the small. I picked my son up from his little Christian pre-school the other day and his teacher told me he kept stepping out into the aisle of the chapel while singing. When the teacher asked him what he was doing, he said “I’m following Jesus”. I couldn’t of been more proud, and I hope that he does. I hope that he follows Jesus throughout his whole life. Fran will be proud too, I can’t wait to tell her.

I aspire to have a little light shining through in my words and actions. A light that I can only hope is pleasing to our Father above. One that is touching others in a positive way, even if it’s just my two year old son and still infant daughter. The way Christ was sent here to teach us to do. We are called to be Christ-like and I strive to do that. I might not be getting “Zings” sent down from Jesus, like my friend Fran, but who knows maybe one day I will. If it’s God’s Will, that it is.

When you were a teenager and became too busy to go to church with me I wasn’t worried. I knew you had a solid foundation to always go back to. I loved that church(while pastor Jim was there) but I loved sharing the experience with you the most.